Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and City Council Members Brad Lander (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) and Antonio Reynoso (D-Greenpoint, Williamsburg) yesterday applauded the de Blasio Administration’s announcement that Citi Bike’s planned expansion includes several borough neighborhoods.
The planned exapnsion over five years will bring the nation’s largest bike share system to a larger and more economically diverse range of communities. Last November, the City and Lyft announced an agreement in which Lyft would invest $100 million to grow and strengthen the system, doubling the size of its service area and tripling the number of bikes over the next five years.
In Brooklyn, Citi Bike has already begun the expansion with 25 new stations along the L-train corridor in East Williamsburg and Bushwick.
Planned expansion through 2023 will include Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, East Flatbush, Sunset Park, South Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Park South and Kensington.
“The expansion of Citi Bike into more low-income communities, and communities of color, is a long overdue step in delivering transit equity for all New Yorkers,” said Adams. “It must also be accompanied by safe cycling infrastructure, so we ensure that everyone can share our streets without fear of being injured or killed. I commend DOT and Citi Bike on this major announcement, which brings bike share to communities in heart of Central Brooklyn as well as south of Prospect Park and along our working waterfront.”
Lander said he is thrilled that Citi Bike will be increasing its footprint in diverse communities across the city, and in particular expanding to serve his constituents in Kensington and Windsor Terrace.
“This expansion will allow hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to gain access to a sustainable mode of transportation that improves transit options, promotes exercise, reduces pollution, and creates good, union jobs (none of which we can take for-granted in the evolving world of on-demand transportation),” said Lander.
“I look forward to working closely with the DOT and Lyft to fulfill their commitments to robust community engagement and equitable bike share access, to make sure that the broadest possible array of New Yorkers can benefit from this service,” he added.
Reynoso said Citi bike helps fill in the gaps in our city’s subway and bus systems and offers riders a convenient, environmentally friendly way to commute or simply get from place to place.
“All New Yorkers should have access to Citi bike and its myriad benefits regardless of socio-economic status or where they live. The Citi bike expansion is a step in the right direction, and I will push NYC DOT and Lyft to continue to expand service with an eye towards prioritizing transit deserts,” said Reynoso.
